10,000x Reward Multiplier: Hell-level Kingdom Building

_4 Hours Later_

Floki found the nest of the serpent queen.

It was not a simple task at all. When he thought about the nest of such a gigantic creature, he had imagined a massive cavern structure or a deep burrow.

At first, he had kept his search focused on finding something similar to those two. But in the end, what he found was completely unlike what he had expected.

At the moment, he was standing in a swampy area within the dark forest. Aside from the uncomfortable wet ground, the smell in this place was extremely unpleasant and harsh to the nose.

Floki had to purchase rubber boots and a nose mask from his shop in order to tread this path more comfortably.

In front of him lay the nest, and it was nothing like what he had imagined at all.

There was no grand structure, no deep burrow, and no wide cavern.

Just a slightly sunken patch of wet earth, surrounded by flattened grass and faint traces of scales that had dragged across the ground repeatedly.

At the center of it all sat a single egg.

It was large, almost half Floki’s height. Its surface was smooth, brown, and faintly glossy, with darker patterns that closely resembled the serpent queen’s scales.

It was laid open, uncovered, and completely unprotected.

Floki frowned slightly as he scanned the area again, his eyes moving carefully across his surroundings.

There were no smaller snakes guarding the egg as one would normally expect.

’This is obviously a trap,’ he thought to himself as he continued to scan the area cautiously without lowering his guard.

There were tall trees around the swamp with oddly shaped exposed roots. Some of them were even shaped like coiling snakes, making the environment feel even more unsettling.

Floki observed those trees very carefully, his gaze lingering on each one for a moment, and to his confusion, there were no snakes nor any other creatures nearby.

’Hmmmm’

His instincts were screaming at him to leave this place immediately, yet his eyes could not spot any form of danger nearby.

"Could it be that the system has misjudged and there are no other snakes here?" he wondered quietly.

With everything going on right now, that seemed to be the only possible conclusion he could come up with.

"Here goes nothing..."

Not willing to waste more time hesitating in uncertainty, he strode closer to the egg, the unpleasant sound of his feet sinking into the swamp spreading faintly across the area.

He finally reached the egg and stretched his hands out to hold it.

The moment he held it, out of instinct, he immediately scanned the surroundings again to see if any snakes would appear, but there was still no movement at all.

Also, thankfully, the system notification appeared.

[ You’ve completed Combat Quest: Snake Nemesis, +100 Skill Points, +300 EXP and a random path ]

[ 50x reward applied, Skill Points +5000, EXP +15,000 ]

[ Total EXP: 335,050 ]

[ Skill points: 10,000 ]

[ DING! Path does not have any value; a path can neither be increased in quantity or quality, hence, the reward multiplier cannot be applied ]

[ Do you want to reveal the random path you’ve unlocked? ]

Floki was amazed by his new amount of skill points and experience points, but he was even more curious about the path he had obtained.

"Reveal the path."

[ Positive. ]

[ You’ve unlocked path: Battle Mage ]

╔════════════════════╗

Battle-Mage Path

A path that refuses weakness. Battle-mages combine steel and spell, fighting up close while weaving magic into every strike.

Stat Growth:

Intelligence ×2 | Strength ×2

Benefits:

-Magic-infused attacks

-Balanced offense and defense

-Close-range spell casting

Special Trait:

Mana Infusion – Infuse physical attacks with additional magic damage on the affinities you’ve unlocked.

╚════════════════════╝

Reading the description of the path, Floki’s eyes showed clear interest.

The stat growth, the benefits, and even the special traits were all highly advantageous.

With the stat growth in strength and intelligence, his progress in those two areas would be doubled upon every level up, which was a significant advantage.

Intelligence directly influenced mana, and strength directly influenced his physical capabilities. Being able to grow twice as strong in those two aspects was a major boost.

’Wow, so this is what I have been missing?’

He thought to himself.

Recalling Breeze, he wondered what class that guy had awakened.

He was supposed to be a knight, but he moved and acted like an assassin, being extremely swift and stealthy.

Speaking of that guy, Floki began to wonder if he was still around watching him or if he had already returned to his master in Blackstone.

The question as to why he had helped him and told him to grow stronger that day still lingered in his mind. But at the moment, leaving this swamp before any snake monster arrived was his main priority.

He observed the egg in his grasp.

"What should I do with this?" he wondered.

[ You can sell the egg to the system or keep it to yourself, hatch it and tame it. To tame it, you need to unlock the taming path, have a beast-related talent, and possess special taming skills ]

"Hmm..."

Floki had no clear idea what to do with it for now, so he sent it to his inventory, and then he began moving out of the swamp.

Nonetheless, unknown to him, atop one of the nearby trees, a serpent watched him without making a move. It was currently using a camouflage skill, and even if Floki were to look in that direction, he would not be able to see it.

The serpent’s eyes narrowed slightly, a clear intelligence flickering within them as they remained locked onto Floki.

It watched as the human slowly disappeared from the area, and even when he was completely out of sight, the serpent still did not make a move.

=====

Floki used the trail of the serpent queen to find his way back to the markings he had left behind to track his path home.

Unfortunately, most of the trees he had used to mark his path had been destroyed during the earlier battle, and he lost track of where he was.

He recalled seeing a skill called Pathfinder earlier and immediately purchased it without hesitation.

The skill was E-rank when he purchased it, but he upgraded it to C-rank shortly after.

With the new rank, he was able to navigate the forest as though it were his own territory.

He moved through the dark forest, where the afternoon’s scorching sunlight filtered through the trees with strong intensity.

On his way back, he even spotted and slaughtered some lurking monsters, which added to his experience points but granted no skill points.

After about two hours of moving at a fast pace, he finally found his way out of the forest and entered his village.

Nonetheless, the state in which he met his village was not the same as the state he had left it at all.